Saturday, August 30, 2008

"Blast from the Past" #2 repost: Pencils for cover of Tales of the TMNT Volume 1 #7

This is an interesting (and rare) collaboration between two of my favorite pencilers in comics -- Jim Lawson and Steve Bissette. Steve, as most people know, is a big dinosaur fan, and he draws them with great panache and verve. For this cover to issue number seven of the original "Tales of the Teenage Mutant NInja Turtles" (an issue that I plotted and laid out), we got him to pencil the dinos, and then Jim added the Turtles and Renet the Timestress. (Side note: Jim is also an excellent dino art guy, as anyone who has picked up his "Paleo" comics can see.)

I can't remember who laid out this cover artwork -- it might have been a joint effort between Steve and Jim. I have a vague memory of those two guys working on this piece in the old Cutlery Building space that Mirage had for a few years, but I could be mistaken. Maybe Jim (or Steve) will remember and add their comments. In any event, it's a lovely piece of art. I believe it was eventually inked by Ryan Brown. -- PL

This is the stuff I enjoy, and his Bade biker and Orson stuff.You have to have a good team going on to make the magic happen.While I enjoy both Lawson and Talbot on their own allot, I don't think Talbots inks do Lawsons art justice at all.I mean look at this cover, look at the city at war issues, look at the first tales issues.It's all so nice, it feels like something is just missing now.-Vaughn M.

-->> ..this ..kinda like the dino ' DREAM TEAM ' .. between Tyrant and 'PALEO' ..

You deff' can see here how closely connected Steve and Jim are in their hearts and deadly passion for the prehistoric.

A killer rendition and Pre- cursor to a classic cover for the sinister Savanti and his entourage.

Incredibly cool, thank you for this.

Is there any idea the inspiration for Savanti, the Time scepter, Simultaneous, and Renet ?? They kinda get 2nd rung on the ladder sometimes, but they are equally as classic and fun characters in the TMNT - verse.

Not much i can recall has ever been revealed about how the time-gang came about.

Just because I don't care for your current art, doesn't mean I don't like ya Jim, so please don't take this as an insult :)....

But while I still like his turtles, just compare the two from then and now. Not to mention his Renet looks 50X better than the first shot of Shadow we see in Volume 4. I don't know if it's a style change, he just draws differently now, or it's an intentional direction for some reason in Volume 4, but THIS is good Jim Lawson art and what a current turtles book should look like.

Even the quick previews from Tales #50 that I have seen look better than most Volume 4 art...and it's easier on the eyes...

" Neil V said...Just because I don't care for your current art, doesn't mean I don't like ya Jim, so please don't take this as an insult :)....

But while I still like his turtles, just compare the two from then and now. Not to mention his Renet looks 50X better than the first shot of Shadow we see in Volume 4. I don't know if it's a style change, he just draws differently now, or it's an intentional direction for some reason in Volume 4, but THIS is good Jim Lawson art and what a current turtles book should look like."

I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree on this one, Neil. Your claim that this drawing of Renet looks fifty times better than the first drawing of Shadow in Volume 4, is, of course, a case of "exaggeration for effect", but in my opinion even to claim it is twice as good would be absurd. Jim's style has certainly changed, evolving with time and experience into what I see as the much more mature and assured style he uses today. The Turtles in this drawing, for example, are fine for their time... but to my eye, compared to the way Jim draws now they look crude, almost like blow-up versions of themselves.

But given how emotional people get about the TMNT, and how that can confound logic and dispassionate analysis, it might be a better idea just to look at the dinosaurs in the issue of Tales for which this art is the cover (Tales Vol. 1, #7) and compare them to any of Jim's "Paleo" books to see how he has changed and matured as an artist. -- PL

"~ tOkKa said...Is there any idea the inspiration for Savanti, the Time scepter, Simultaneous, and Renet ?? They kinda get 2nd rung on the ladder sometimes, but they are equally as classic and fun characters in the TMNT - verse.

Not much i can recall has ever been revealed about how the time-gang came about."

Dave, if memory serves, the original iterations of Savanti Romero, Renet, the Time Scepter, and Lord Simultaneous all came from the plot idea Kevin Eastman came up with for the issue he wanted to do with Dave Sim's "Cerebus" character making an appearance. I probably added some tweaks as we developed that issue, but in all honesty, (a) I can't recall right now what they were, and (b) they were probably pretty minimal, as Kevin had a pretty clear idea of the characters and how he wanted the story to play out. (Trivia note: the name "Savanti Romero" was created by Kevin to pay homage to two of his favorite horror movie creators, George Romero and Tom Savini. Obviously, there was a spelling issue, but the positive intent was there.) -- PL

I can see what you mean on the turtles front. They almost look a bit too bulky to perform the moves as ninjas they would need to perform..

I still like the look of his turtles, as I stated before, but to me, the humans just look totally out of proportion. Taking the final panel of V4 I 1 as an example again..

Shadow's mouth looks way too big/wide, the face is a tad long and makes it look like she has more spare skin on her face than is needed, and the hands look like that of a 50 year old... a bit too long and 'bony' looking... Everything in that first issue looks good EXCEPT his humans... That's why I think Renet, minus the gargantuan breasts, just looks better.

But that's just my personal opinion on my style preference. I guess a more simplistic comparison is the 2K3 Turtles in Season 1-5 versus the Angular, curve less versions in Fast Foward. S 1-5 Turtles just LOOK better to me.If that explanation made any sense at all :).

Neil I totally agree but the opinions we express don't really matter because apparently we're the only one's seeing this stuff.The humans in volume 4 are waaaay to pointy and allot of it reminds of when you're in art class and they make you draw with your eyes closed (that's not an insult it just does).I seriously love Jim's old world it's really fun and free, the thickness of the new stuff is just so stiff and confining to me. It's like everything is done by guides and rulers or something.It's all rather to cubist looking for me I guess, but I guess it could all come down to a matter of opinion and taste in art and this is by far my least favorite art out of any tmnt comic ever with the exception of the dream wave graffiti style.

I really buy volume 4 not for the art but because I'm enjoying the story, I just wish it was coming at is sooner or in larger parts. :)